The Uncaged Bird -Hummingbird feeder is up!

A handsome stranger appeared in my garden.

Had a Rose breasted Grosbeak here today, off of Prospect near Underhill Field.

lynnl199 said:

Had a Rose breasted Grosbeak here today, off of Prospect near Underhill Field.

 I only had one once. I posted him. Gorgeous birds. 

The female is now here as well.

Our first hummingbird arrived this am.

lynnl199 said:

Our first hummingbird arrived this am.

 Wonderful! I haven't seen another since the last post. Getting ready to change the sugar water.

Don’t have a pic yet, but D reports the cygnets’ beaks are starting to turn pink!

I spotted a tiny Blue Grey Natcatcher, but didn't get a picture. This is what he looked like. He was no bigger than a Black Capped Chickadee. Looked a wee bit smaller.

Just spotted a hummingbird about an hour ago! Either a female or a juvenile. No red throat.

Putting in more plants for Hummingbirds. I already have Perennial Salvia, Aquilegia and Honeysuckle,  I add Annual Red Salvia and usually a hanging mixed basket with either Petunias or Calibrachoa (mini petunias)  With the feeder, there is a good selection throughout the season.

By the way, don't sweet away spider webs, they use them to help build their nests.

Hummingbird building a nest.

A flock of Cedar Waxwings descended on my backyard! They are one of my favorite birds and spent the whole day feasting on one of my giant Holly trees.

They seem to come by here (southern Wisconsin) once a year, in a flock, and clean out all of last summer's old dried up crabapples.  No accounting for taste.  Some years, i'm lucky enough to see them.  Such handsome birds.

mjc said:

They seem to come by here (southern Wisconsin) once a year, in a flock, and clean out all of last summer's old dried up crabapples.  No accounting for taste.  Some years, i'm lucky enough to see them.  Such handsome birds.

 I rarely have a Holly berry left this late in the year. Once in awhile Robins come in a flock and strip it bear. Actually I read that Robins do not have a firm pattern of migration. Sometimes they stay and sometimes they travel. But here we are in May and Cedar Waxwings appear. 

By the way I love crabapple trees. 

Crabapple trees - yes, beautiful in spring, and happily ours are over planting beds instead of pavement.  Their misfortune to be under bigger trees, so they're not exactly showpieces (but then, neither are we). : )

eta:  I love the "expression" on the little blue-gray guy a few posts back:  total determination.

mjc said:

Crabapple trees - yes, beautiful in spring, and happily ours are over planting beds instead of pavement.  Their misfortune to be under bigger trees, so they're not exactly showpieces (but then, neither are we). : )

eta:  I love the "expression" on the little blue-gray guy a few posts back:  total determination.

 I had Crabapples in my old yard. The trunks were twisty and divided at the base. Not sure if it was a particular type but about 6 of them flanked a goldfish pond. I wanted to add them to this garden. I know the deer would feast on them but now that you have reminded me of them, maybe I'll research a little more.

The blue grey was not my picture. He was too fast so I found this one online. But yes he has a look and I like his roundness.

I'll post more pictures of the Cedar Waxwings.

In recent weeks, we have been driving over to the Great Swamp and walking across one of the transverse roads (the gravel one).  It's lovely and quiet.  It started out as just an escape but we've been bringing binocs the last couple of times and we may slowly be turning into birders.

Indigo bunting on my feeder tonight in Maplewood! Yay!

The withered crabapples May have a hint of alcohol in them that attracts those clever birds - some of our natives love fruit trees that produce fermenting fruit (look up drunken Australian  wild birds). 

As promised, a pic of cygnets with newly coloured beaks! The light wasn’t great, so the beaks look dirty, but you can just see the dark pink smudges, looks kinda bruised. Gosh they look grown up, won’t be too long before their feathers grow black. 

Also, a little terrapin sunning itself on the  wider post sticking out of the lake, at lunchtime yesterday. His bum is pointing towards us. I’m not sure if the pic will be clear enough for you to see his two back legs sticking out - he was so comfy, propped there on his tummy! Stayed for about an hour, a bit more. (That’s where the duck fell asleep the other day)

finnegan said:

Indigo bunting on my feeder tonight in Maplewood! Yay!

 I had one about a year ago! My first. I'll be on the lookout in South Orange!

joanne said:

The withered crabapples May have a hint of alcohol in them that attracts those clever birds - some of our natives love fruit trees that produce fermenting fruit (look up drunken Australian  wild birds). 

As promised, a pic of cygnets with newly coloured beaks! The light wasn’t great, so the beaks look dirty, but you can just see the dark pink smudges, looks kinda bruised. Gosh they look grown up, won’t be too long before their feathers grow black. 

Also, a little terrapin sunning itself on the  wider post sticking out of the lake, at lunchtime yesterday. His bum is pointing towards us. I’m not sure if the pic will be clear enough for you to see his two back legs sticking out - he was so comfy, propped there on his tummy! Stayed for about an hour, a bit more. (That’s where the duck fell asleep the other day)

 Wow, those red bills are striking. Of course I'm pretty stuck on "drunken Australian wild birds!" Would it be appropriate to call them "cheeky?"

OK, I just found the terrapin. Very cute. I started looking for a bird and then double checked, a terrapin is a turtle, or tortoise, so, as I know you use words carefully I decided to look up the definition and here is a simple explanation for anyone who was as confused as I was.

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/whats-the-difference-between-turtles-tortoises-and-terrapins

So sorry! Thought I had explained last year, about the terrapins and the longneck turtles living in our lake. 

Often the drunk birds are in the parrot family - lorrikeets, galahs, corellas etc. They’re sugar-lovers, which is why they’re always screeching to each other (Look! I found the best sugar there is! It’s MINE! Haha!!), and they don’t care if it’s grapes in vineyards, mangoes, pawpaw, stone fruit, citrus, figs, bush fruits... on the tree or vine a little too long, or left rotting on the ground, it’s all fair game. Birds fall out trees, drunk, or barely stagger down country roads trying to find a puddle to drink from. So funny!

(Not sure if I knew before that a bunting is a bird - thank for teaching me!)

joanne said:

So sorry! Thought I had explained last year, about the terrapins and the longneck turtles living in our lake. 

Often the drunk birds are in the parrot family - lorrikeets, galahs, corellas etc. They’re sugar-lovers, which is why they’re always screeching to each other (Look! I found the best sugar there is! It’s MINE! Haha!!), and they don’t care if it’s grapes in vineyards, mangoes, pawpaw, stone fruit, citrus, figs, bush fruits... on the tree or vine a little too long, or left rotting on the ground, it’s all fair game. Birds fall out trees, drunk, or barely stagger down country roads trying to find a puddle to drink from. So funny!

(Not sure if I knew before that a bunting is a bird - thank for teaching me!)

 You may have explained the terrapins. As soon as I saw the explanation it rang a bell but I wanted to look up the turtle tortoise thing again. 

The drunken parrots must be a scream. I'm crazy about parrots and had a couple of rescues. I thought of rescuing one again but I have no one to leave them to. 3 of my family members had African Greys.

...So D lost his Bluetooth ear thingy as well as my car keys, and no matter how hard he looked just couldn’t find them. The keys are still missing. However, this morning I strolled past his study door and found this amazing sight: (1)

Such a clever Pink Bird deserves to be rewarded, so D thought he’d share some mini-meringues: (2)

Morganna said:

A flock of Cedar Waxwings descended on my backyard! They are one of my favorite birds and spent the whole day feasting on one of my giant Holly trees.

 I have only seen this bird once- and it is absolutely magnificent. 

finnegan said:

Indigo bunting on my feeder tonight in Maplewood! Yay!

 Wow! What a great sighting! I became bird obsessed when I had a house in the Catskills. The birds that land in your feeders are so different. I am so excited to hang out my feeder! 

I spotted a male Goldfinch. If only my Coneflowers could survive the Woodchucks I could keep them around. They are the best draw.

Nice to see Black Cap Chickadees. They are always noticeable in the winter so it's fun to see them around in the summer. 

Not in my yard, obviously, but because I love this photo.

On a day when laughs are few and far between, this made my week:

im sorry you can’t really see how big he is. His beak reaches over the bottom railing of the decking guard. I think he’s our new lawnmower!! (His new mid-morning call seems to be ‘Dave? Are you there?)